I’ve had some feedback that our receptionist isn’t great. What should I do?

I’ve had some feedback that our receptionist isn’t great. We can’t afford to pay her much. What should I do?

A couple of visits I made recently to businesses, in my alternative roles as mother and dog owner, reminded me of how easy it is for business to do all the big things right but mess up on first impressions.

The first visit was to a child development clinic. The clinic was highly recommended, had amazing testimonials and is regarded as the local expert in reading programs. They also specialise in children with severe intellectual problems and accordingly see a lot of concerned and anxious parents. I expected a fairly gentle receptionist: someone good with kids and parents and generally helpful. The lady at the desk was quite the opposite. One of her roles was to explain the cost structure, Medicare rebates and subsidies to the new clients.

Over a 10 week period, as I sat and waited for my son to do his reading program, I watched as time and time again the lady got irritated with parents struggling to understand the complex paperwork and insanely annoyed with the noise their (intellectually challenged) kids made in the waiting room.

Not long after my son completed his program a friend asked me where he had gone as she wanted her son to do the same program. When I told her the name of the place I had used she looked astonished that I had gone there – she had heard on the grapevine about the “witch on reception” and that was enough to turn her off the place.

The second visit was to a vet with my new puppy. Again I chose somewhere highly recommended. Again the experience was marred by the receptionist. This time though it wasn’t an irritable person but rather someone over zealous on sales. The receptionist had been briefed to enrol all new puppy owners into puppy school (a good idea by the way) but because of a diary issue I wasn’t going to be able to sign up on the spot for the classes. This threw her a bit so she tried to interest me in pet insurance. I’d already bought that and, as it turns out, pretty much everything else she suggested. She wasn’t happy. After my appointment, as I went to pay, she tried to push the puppy school again; and again and again over the next two weeks by phone and when I visited. She didn’t have a solution to the fact that I couldn’t actually attend the sessions on the dates provided, but harassed me anyway. I couldn’t bear it so I changed vet.

The role of receptionist is a tricky one. It’s usually the most junior job in a business, is rarely paid well and in many small businesses is often combined with office admin. The receptionist’s job description is usually not much more than a to-do list, and few bosses take the time to explain and train the nuances and finesse required for the job. Accordingly many receptionists do the role to achieve the outcomes that they think the boss wants (getting the sale, hurrying up client paperwork) rather than in the way he/she actually wants it.

Sales guru Jack Daly suggests you give your receptionist the title “Director of First Impressions”. I know a couple of businesses who have done just that, and what a change! Receptionists who, by simply a job title change, reframed their priorities, re-found their personable characters and refreshed the businesses they worked for.

Julia Bickerstaff’s expertise is in helping businesses grow profitably. She runs two businesses:Butterfly Coaching, a small advisory firm with a unique approach to assisting SMEs with profitable growth; and The Business Bakery, which helps kitchen table tycoons build their best businesses. Julia is the author of “How to Bake a Business” and was previously a partner at Deloitte. She is a chartered accountant and has a degree in economics from The London School of Economics (London University).